LISCR FC Reaches FA Cup Semifinals

LISCR FC advanced to the semifinals of the 2018 Liberia FA Cup competition on Saturday, September 29 after a 2-1 win over Watanga Football Club.

Goals from Alloy Brown and Sam Kollie were enough to knock out Watanga FC that got their lone goal through Carlos Williams.

The Shipping Boys’ defense of the title appeared to have taken a major twist when Watanga got an early lead at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium. Carlos William scored in the opening 15 minutes of the match to put Watanga ahead.

However, the early lead didn’t appear to have trouble Tapha Manneh’s side a lot on the pitch as they went on looking for the equalizer. Things nearly got difficult for LISCR FC that needed equalizer when Watanga FC nearly double the lead. Farsedu Logan’s shot from a set-piece was brilliantly stopped by Ashley Williams who was in goal for LISCR FC.

After a hard work on the pitch, the equalizer finally came in the 26th minutes through Alloy Brown. Brown was on time to finish Sam Kollie’s cross from the left side of the pitch. Brown third LISCR FC’s goal leveled the score against Watanga and Tapha Manneh’s side hopes of advancing to the semifinals were restore.

The match came to a standstill in the 33rd minute when Hilton Varney collided after being involved in a clash with Watanga FC’s goalkeeper, James Kolubah while trying beat the Watanga FC’s defense to LISCR ahead. The left-full-back was given medical attention on the pitch and was later taken to a nearby hospital for fast medical treatment. It was later revealed that he was recovering from the collision. Varney was replaced by Darius Kah and the seearch for goal continued.

The boys fought to reward Varney for his sacrifice which saw him rushed to the hospital when they took the lead in the 42nd minute through Sam Kollie. Kollie struck from inside the penalty area to beat Kolubah in goal. Varney Sando’s engineered Kollie’s goal with a beautiful run from the right side of Watanga’s defense before playing the ball across the goal where Kollie was positioned to reach it at the back of the net.

From a goal down to taking the lead three minutes to end of the first half, LISCR FC headed to the break in the driver’s seat. The second period of the match turned out to be a difficult one for both teams that failed to score again. The 2-1 lead didn’t satisfy Tapha Manneh who introduced Benjamin Doe and Prince Urey.

The introduction on the pitch changed the pace of the game but LISCR FC was unable to score again as they held on to their 2-1 lead until the end of the match.